Stone Circle

Fieldnotes

I walked up to this circle via Woodhall. You could try the direct approach from the carpark at Haw Bank but I wouldn't recommend it.
The walk from Woodhall takes you up a metalled path and then round to the ford maked on the OS map. There is no easy way past here and the stream was a raging torrent when I was there.
After the ford it's all plain sailing. Between Haw Bank and the Ox Close Scar is a long broad plain. There has been extensive lead mining operations here and the lead mines themselves are outrageous. A huge rock face honeycombed with small tunnels.
The circle itself is on a rise just beyond these workings.
According to Burl "At Caperby near Ayresgarth in West Yorkshire are the weathered stones of an embanked oval 28 X 23.8m, its pillars of local gritstone up to 1.2m long. They lie on an overgrown bank. There is a low disturbed mound at the centre."

I've not too much to add to Burl's description. The central mound appears to have been a cairn and is 6m in diameter.

Just before you arrive at the circle you may notice a low earthwork running north to south across the terrace. The earthwork is quite a subtle feature and appears to be composed of earth & stones.There is another earthwork of a similar nature and also running north to south and terminating at the nearby ring cairn. These earthworks seem to be some form of boundary and there are a few low-lying possible cairns within this area. Possibly a prehistoric cemetary boundary?.